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Bug Squad

Bug Squad blog image depicts a honey bee sting in action.

Welcome to the Bug Squad blog! The Bug Squad blog was launched Aug. 6, 2008 and is a daily blog (Monday through Friday). It showcases entomologists and the work they do.  The blog focuses on scientists in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, the Bohart Museum of Entomology, Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, the UC Davis Bee Haven, and assorted campuswide events, including UC Davis Picnic Day, UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day, and Bohart Museum open houses. The blog spotlights insects, including bees, butterflies, dragonflies, and praying mantises, as well as arachnids such as jumping spiders and crab spiders. Author and photographer is Kathy Keatley Garvey, communications specialist, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and a longtime journalist and community scientist with two degrees from Washington State University.  She is a member of the Entomological Society of America (ESA) and the Association for Communication Excellence (ACE). Her blog posts and images have won international awards from ACE and ESA and appeared on journal and magazine covers. She shoots primarily with a Nikon Z-8 mirrorless camera, a Nikon D500 and Nikon 800, with assorted macro lenses. 

Not a Good Way to Welcome an Admiral

July 20, 2017
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
It was not a good way to welcome an admiral. The Red Admiral butterfly, that is. The Vanessa atalanta fluttered into our pollinator garden on Sunday, July 16 in Vacaville, Calif., and touched down on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia).
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Bohart Museum to Celebrate Moth Night on July 22

July 18, 2017
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
The Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California, Davis, will celebrate National Moth Week on Saturday night, July 22 with an indoor-and-outdoor open house featuring blacklighting; moth displays including the Trump moth, and free refreshments of hot chocolate and cookies.
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Seeing Spots: 12 of Them!

July 17, 2017
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Most of the time, I see red. Occasionally, I see spots. Red? The flameskimmer dragonflies (Libellula saturata) that hang out in our pollinator garden. Spots? The 12-spot dragonfly, Libellula pulchella.
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